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ACS President: Willis R. Whitney (1868-1958)

Served as President: 1909

To him no real experiment was useless and he liked the word “serendipity” which he defined as the art of profiting from unexpected discovery.

Education:

Ph. D., 1896, University of Leipzig

Career Highlights:

1900 – 1928, General Electric Company, Director of the Research Laboratory

1928 – 1932, General Electric Company, Vice President in charge of Research

1932 – 1945, General Electric Company, honorary vice-president of company

Notable Accomplishments:

Research topics included solubility, colloid suspensions, corrosion of iron

Major Awards and Honors:

President, American Electrochemical Society, 1912

Service to Science:

Did you know

. . . that the first research laboratory for General Electric Co started in a barn, but when the barn burned shortly afterward the research operation was moved to a small building in the Schenectady Works?

. . . that before and after retirement he had many hobbies, all of which involved some sort of experimentation, including Indian arrowheads, the growing of corn under different conditions, and turtles ?